Feed mechanism



DEC. 19, D E. KEECH ET AL FEED MECHANI SM Filed Jan. 28, 1930 4Sheets-Sheet 1 fllt In l/e @Zw-5:

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Dec. 19, 1933. Q E. KEECH ET AL 1,939,985

FEED MECHANISM Filed Jan. 28, 1930 4 SheetSSheet 2 19u/e n 1:5.'

Dec. 19, 1933. E KEECH Er AL 1,939,985

FEED MECHANISM' Filed Jan. 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 0mm K550-f dosi/0H/L/ ADA Dec. 19, 1933. D. E, KEECH ET AL FEED MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed Jan. 28

. I|:| l L l A/OWJ Patented Dec. 19, 1933 4UNITED STATES FEED MECHANISMDana E. Keech,

Glendale, and Joseph N. Adams,

Orange, Calif.

Application January 28, 1930. Serial No. 424,087

1 Claim.

Our invention relates to article handling apparatus and moreparticularly to mechanism for feeding boxes to a lidder or otherprocessing device. r K

While useful with suitable modication in many industries, we willdescribe our invention with particular reference to its utility in thecitrus industry. In citrus packing houses the fruit is packed inshipping cases by hand and the packed boxes are collected on ahorizontal conveyer system and delivered to va single point where theyare lidded. l

Inhouses of any size, it is-customary to have the packed boxes liddedand strapped by automatic machinery. Several types 'of machines areavailable for this purpose, and theirconstruction is well known in theart. For the purpose of illustration, our invention will herein be shownas associated with a Parker automatic lidder and a Parker. automaticstrapper.

Themanner of accomplishing the foregoing objects as well as furtherobjects and advantages will be made manifest in thefollowing descriptionand in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic side elevational View of a Parker automaticlidder incorporated in the preferred embodiment of our inventionillustrated herein.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow 3in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view taken in the direction of the arrowl4 in Fig. 1. v

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram ofthe electric circuits of our invention.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of the conveyers utilized in ourinvention.

Figs. 7 to 12 inclusive are diagrammatic plan views of the conveyersshown in Fig. 6 illustrating the operation of our invention.

Fig. 13 is an assembly of a conveyer roll, and

Fig. 14 is a view showing a box in nailing position.

At the present time, it is customary to operate said lidder and strappersimultaneously by kicking a single foot pedal so'that as each boxislidded a strapV is applied to the boximmediately preceding it.Movement of the boxes through the lidder and strapper however is stillaccomplished manually.

It is an object of our invention to speed up the operation of anautomatic lidder and/or any similar machine ,byV automatically feedingboxes thereto and/or therefrom.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 6, apreferred embodiment 15 of the feed mechanism of our invention includesa packed box conveyer 16, a receiving conveyer 17, a Parker automaticlidder 18, a Parker automatic strapper 19, and a discharge conveyer 20.As will become clear in the description to follow, certain drive andcontrol mechanism is included with the above -mentioned elements tocomplete our invention.

The packed box conveyer 16 is preferably a horizontal conveyer having abelt mounted upon a suitable frame 26 driven through a transmission 27by a prime mover such as an electric motor 28. When the motor 28 isenergized the belt 25 is caused to move in the direction of the arrow29.

The receiving conveyer 17 is a roller conveyer including an idle roller30 and power driven rollers 3l, the latter being actuated by chains ina. manner which will become evident later. Pivotal- 1y mounted alongsideand extending over the conveyer 17 is an arm r32 which is normally heldby springs (not shown) in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 6but which is positioned to be contasted by a box moving on the conveyer17 so that the arm 32 will actuate an electric switch 33 to which it isconnected.

Referring to Fig. 13, each of the rollers 31 is power driven by a shaft35 which are connected by suitable sprockets and chains as indicated. Oneach shaft 35 is mounted one or more ratchet wheels 36, the teeth 37 ofeach of which are engaged by a spring-pressed pawl 38. Thus, rotation ofthe shafts 35'in the directionrof the arrow 39 will cause acorresponding rotationof the rollers 31, whereas if the shaft 35 is deadan easy rotation of the rollers 31 in the direction of the arrow is madepossible by the dog 38 riding over the teeth 37. The purpose of thismechanism will be.- come evident further on in this description.

The Parker automatic lidder 18 is only illustrated diagrammatically inthe drawings because its construction is well known in the art. It isthe design in general use in the California citrus industry and is verysimilar in construction to the embodiment illustrated in the patentY toGeorge D. Parker, 1,576,213, issued March 9, 1926.

Specifically, the Parker lidder 18 includesa base 40 having standards 41and 42, the latter having foot plates 43 and44 which are secured to thebase 40, as shown, by means of cap screws 45. Supported on suitable armsextending forwardly from the standards 41 and 42 are heavy brackets 48which support a roller conveyer section 49 having side bars 50 and 51between which are mounted a series of rotatable rollers 52. Shafts 5.3on which the rollers 52 are mounted extend forwardly bener to bedescribed later. The shaft 53 upon which the leftwardmost drivesprociret is mounted' extends rearwardly beyond the frame bar 51 and hassecured thereon a sprocket 58 for a purpose to be described later.Secured to brackets 59 provided upon the conveyer frame ba1 50 is ahousing 60 which covers the sprockets 54 and the chains 55. The housing6-9 is removed in Figs. 2, 3 and.

ards 41 and 42 is a shaft 73 on the outer ends of which are mountedgears 74. Each of the gears 74 is connected by a pitman 75 to a nailinghead 76 which is slidably mounted on upper ends of the standards 41 and42, in the well known manner, so that when the gears 74 are given asingle rota tion the nailing head 76 is moved downwardly and upwardly toaccomplish the nailing of a lid onto a box supported upon the lidderconveyer 49. Rotation of the gears 74 is accomplished by the pinions 72which mesh with these' gears. Power is transmitted to the pinions 72from a motor 73 through a clutch 79 mounted upon the shaft 71. Rotatablydisposed on the shaft 71 is a clutch drum sleeve 80 having a driun 8lthe periphery of which is provided with a ring sprocket which is drivenby the motor 78 .through a silent chain 82. Fixed to theV shaft 71 is aninternal expanding clutch eleu ment 83 which is provided with suitablecontrol mechanism whereby the clutch 79 may be engaged continuouslyonlyfor such a time as will accoinplish a single rotation lof the gears74.

The clutch drum 81 is rotated continuously, the hub sleeve 80 beingiiuted at its end. to provide a pinion 85. Meshed with the pinion 85 isa gear 86 which is mounted upon a stationary stub shaft 87 provided uponthe standard 41, the gear being retained in place by arcollar 8S. Thegear 36 is provided with a pinion 89 which engages with another gear(not shown) of a gear train the purg gears 98.

pose of which is to actuate the nailstripper in sup plying nails to thenailing head 76.

Mounted'upon the foot plate 43 is a block 94 which is secured in placeby certain of thecap screws 45 which extend therethrough. As clearlyshown in Figs. 2 and 3, the block 94 has bearg ings for suitablysupporting two shafts and 96. One end ofY the shaft 96 is provided witha pinion 97 which meshes with the gear 86. The other end of the shaft 95is rotatably connected to an adjacent end of the shaft 96 by mitre Theshaft 96 extends forward and passes through a clutch 99 the drum hub 100of rwhich is journalled in a suitable bearing 101 which is secured bycap screws 103 and 104 to the lidderY base plate 40. The hub is providedwith an end flange 106 to which is secured a drive sprocket 107.connected by a chain 108 to the left drum vsprocket 54 of the lidderconveyer 49. The clutch drum hub 160 and a drum 110 provided thereon arerotatable upon the -g shaft 96`and are adapted to be connected theretoby a clutch expansion element 111 which is fixed to the shaft 96. Theclutch 99 is normally engaged and may be released by moving a clutchring 112 ina forward direction.

Secured upon the forward faces of the standards 41 and 42 just above thelidder conveyer 49 isl a guide plate 120. Pivotall'y mounted on a capscrew 122 screwed into the inneriface of the standard 41 is a box stopmember '123 the outline Vof which is clearly shown in Fig. 1.

.shown in. Fig. 1.

This member has a slot 124 through which extends a cap screw 125 whichpermits a limited rotation yto the member 123 about the cap screw 122.The weight of the member 123 normally retains it in forward position sothat a nose 126 thereof extends into the path of any box 127 which mightbe carried on the conveyer 49 as Pivotally mounted in the nose 126 is anger 130 which by gravity normally assumes a position'v as shown inFigs. 2, 3 and 4. Thus when a box travelling on the conveyer 49 engagesthe nose 126 it forces the finger 130 into a cavity 131 providedtherefor in the nose 126.' When the stop member 123 is rotated about thecap screw 122 so as to withdraw the nose 126 from contact with the box127 the finger 130 drops from the cavity 131 and thereafter when themember 123 is released it is stopped from falling into the path of thebox 127 by engagement of the finger 130 with the near side of the b ox.Secured in any suitable manner upon the rear faceof'the guide plate 120is a control bracket 135. This bracket has a horizontal plate 136 uponwhich are formed verticalV feet 137 and 138 which are secured to theplate 120. t the inner middle portion of the plate 136 an upturnediiange 139 is formed, a clutch control arm slideway 140 being formedbetween the'flange 139 and the guide plate 120.

vPivoted upon the plate 136, as shown, is a rod 141 which extendsthrough a suitable opening in the Vstop member 123 vand is bent to bringits free end into a desirable position, this end carrying a roller 142for a purpose to be made clear later.

Secured upon a forward face of the standard 41beneaththe conveyer '49 isa control lever support 143 upon which a clutch control lever 144 ispivotally mounted as shown in Fig. 4. The lever 144 has an upper arm 145and a lower arm 146. The arm 145 extends upwardly through the controlarm slideway 140 and has provided upon its extremity a box engaging head147. The head 147 includes a base plate 148 which is secured as byrivets to the arm 145 and to one sideof which is hinged a plate 149having a box dogl 150 extending therefrom into the path of a box 127carried on the conveyer 49. Also provided on the plate 149 extendingrearwardly therefrom is a release hook 151. The base plate 148 has aportion thereof bent to form a 'spring arm 152. Extending through theplate 149 and the' arm 152 is a bolt 153 which limits the forwardmovement of the plate 149. Disposed about the bolt 153 is a compressionspring 154 which yieldably maintains the plate 149 in its forwardposition. With its opposite ends attached to the upper lever arm 145 andto the extension of the bracket attached arm 137, is a tension spring156 which yieldably holds the armV 145 in the retracted position inwhich this is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it engages the roller 158 andopens the switch 157, the effect of which will be made evident later on.

The lower arm 146 isconnected byl a loose shackle 160 to the inner endof a horizontal lever When this arm is moved' to the exteme left endofthe slideway 140, as

161 the opposite end of which is fixed pivotally to the bearing 101 bythe cap screw 104,

Secured beneath two ofthe cap screws 45 as shown in Fig. 2 is ahorizontal bar 164 on the front end of which is pivotally mounted a bellcrank 165 having a yoke 166, which connects to the clutch ring 112, andan arm 167 which is connected'by a link 168 to the lever 161. It is thusseen that when a boxmoving on the conveyer 49 contacts the box dog 150the lever 144 is swung so that by the time the box engages the'box stop1'26 as shown in Fig. 14, the

Y lower lever arm 146 has, through the toggle 160,

the standard 41 is a foot lever 172 which is yieldably supported by atension spring 173 and which normally rests against alower face of thelbar 143 adjacent to theupper endV of the cam face 170. The front end ofthe lever 172 is provided with a pedal 174 by'which the lidder operatormay Dless the lever 172 against the cam face 170 and swing the lever 144to where the lever head 147 will be disposed as shown in Fig. 14..Although other releasing means maybe provided for the lever 172 thislever may be released,

in the embodiment illustrated, by a slight upward pressure on the pedal174 by the foot of the operator.

Referring again to Fig. 6, the box strapper 19 may be any box strapperthrough which a lidded box is conveyed for the purpose of strapping it,but is preferably a Parker strapper as illustrated by the patent toGeorge D. Parker, 1,715,780, issued June 4, 1929. This strapper has aroller conveyer 180 on whichrboxes are conveyed into 'and from thestrapper. In our invention provision is made for driving the rolls ofthe conveyer 180 positively by means of a chain mechanism 181 whichisactuated by a chain 182 connecting this mechanism to theV sprocket 58 ofthe lidder 18. f Thus, when the clutchv99` of the lidder 18 is engagedso as to actuate the conveyer 49 thereof and the conveyer 17 precedingthis conveyer, the conveyer 180 of the strapper 19' is` also actuatedthrough the chain '182. The strapper 19 is provided with a stop 183which halts a box moving on the conveyer 180 in position for beingstrapped and is preferably automatically disengaged upon the strappingoperation being completed. Y

The conveyer 20 is an automatic gravity or power conveyer adapted toreceive lidded and strapped boxes from the strapper 19 and convey theseto cars or to storage.

' Referring to Fig. 5, the motor 28 which drives the packed box conveyer16 is seen to be fed with electricity by certain Vwires 190, the currentthrough which is controlled by a magnetic switch 191. This switch is anyof the usual types used for this purpose and is controlled by the makingor breaking of a circuit 192 which includes a master switch 193 and theaforementioned switches 33 and 157. The switches 33 and 157 are inparallel in the circuit 192 so that with the master switch 193 vclosedboth of the switches 33 and 157 have to be `disengaged in order to breakthe circuit 192 and shut off the supply of current to the motor 28through the wires 190. Likewise, when the circuit 192 is broken byopening both of the switches 33 and 157 and the motor 28 de-energized asa result thereof, and if either one of the switches 33 and 157 isclosed, this re-establishes the circuit 192 and causes current to flowto the motor 28 through the wires 190 which results in resumption ofmovement of the conveyer 17. The master switch 1793 isV lfor closing thecircuit 192 when either of the switches 33 or 157 areclosed.

1 Operation Referring particularly to Figs. 6 and 12, it is noted thatin commencing operations the master switch 193 isclosed, thus causingmovement of the packed box conveyer 16 to begin. Also the switches areactuated which start the motors of the lidder 18 and the strapper 19.When the motor 78 of the lidder 18 is running the shaft 96 is constantlyrotating and, with the lever 145 in its inactive position as shown inFigs. 2, 3 and 4, the clutch 99 is engaged so that the conveyer 49 ofthe lidder, the receiving conveyer 17 on one end thereof, and thestrapper conveyer 180 on the other end thereof, are lall driven throughthis clutch.

It is preferable that certain rollers of these three conveyers rotatefaster than the others. This is accomplished by using sprockets 54 ofdifferent diameter as shown. To begin with, the driven rolls 31 of thereceiving conveyer 17 are rotated so as to propel the box thereon at ahigher rate of speed than the boxes are carried on the packed boxconveyer 16. Therthree rollers 52 nearest the right hand end of thelidder 18'are driven at theY same speed as the rollers 31. The remainingrollers 51 of the lidder 18 and the rollers of the strapper 19 aredriven so as to propel a box carried thereon at a still higher rate ofvspeed. f

This difference in speed of these rollers is accomplished by employingon one of the roller shafts 53 as shown in Fig. 4 a double sprocket 54having an inner sprocket 195 which is of greater diameter than thesprockets of the other double sprockets 54.

With the apparatus in motion as above set forth, packed boxes of fruitbegin to arrive on the packed box conveyer 16. In practically allinstances the packed boxes are carried around a turn in the packed boxconveyer system before reaching theportion of thepacked box conveyer 16illustrated in Fig. 6. By thisturn these boxes are spaced a shortdistance as shown in Fig. 7.

Here a series of four boxes 127 are shown, these being `designated as boxes a, b, c and d. In Figs. 7 to 12, arrows placed alongside theseboxes will indicate that they are in motion while the ab- -sence of sucharrows` will indicate that the boxes are stationary. In Fig.. 7 boxes a,b, c, and d are all travellingupon the packed box conveyer 16. In Fig. 8the leading box a has passed on to the receiving conveyer 17 and openedthe switch 33 '.f

through its actuating arm 32. The switch 157 being closed, however, thecircuit 1,92 is unbroken? and the packed box conveyer 16 continues to bedriven by the motor 28. Feeding of the boxes from their positions asindicated in Fig. 8 to their 1 1 As box fa' moves into the lidder 18 itcontacts the,

box dog 150 and swings the lever 144 so as vto disengage the clutch 99just as the box moves into. engagement with the stop 126. With thedisengaging of the clutch 99 the receiving conveyer 17 and the conveyersof the lidder 18 and the strapper 19 are all stopped.

As this is accomplished the upper lever arm 146 engages the switch wheel158 and opens switch 157. At the same time box b has engaged the arm v32so as to openvthe switch 33. Both switches 157 and 33 .being thus open,the conveyer 16 is stopped. The situation at this time is illustrated inFig. 9.

Obviously, if the box b has not been following the box a as to bealready in contact with the arm 32 at the time box a actuated switch157, the electrical control circuit 192 would have remained unbrokenVand the conveyer 16 continued in operation after the halting of the boxa and the stopping of the receiving conveyer and the lidder and strapperconveyers, until box b had arrived at the position in which it is shownin Fig. 9.

With the box a in its position 'as shown in Fig, 9, the lidderoperator'places av lid over thev box and by the use of suitable coverpressing mechanism (not shown) this lidis forced downward into properlidding position. A trip mechanism for the clutch 79 (not shown) is nowactuated .by the operator so as to nail the lid onto box a. As thepitman 75, shown in Figs. 1 and 3,

vis carried around by its gear 74 it contacts the roller 142 and swingsthe rod 141 about its pivoted end so'as to swing the stop member 123rearwardly, withdrawing its stop nose 126 from the pathof'box a.. At thebeginning of this nailing action the stop member 123 and the clutchcontrol lever head 147 are positioned as shown in Fig. 14. The hook 151is here seen to extend behind a border fiange 199 of the stop member123. Thus, when the stop member is withdrawn from in front of box a thebox dog 150 is withdrawn with it, thuspermitting the spring 156 to swingthe lever arm 144 back to its normal position as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and4. This movement throws in the clutch 99. closes the switch 157 andthereby starts all the conveyers into motion.

Aspreviously mentioned, the driven rollers now directly under box a andall those located to the leftward in the lidder 18 and strapper 19 aredriven at a higher rate than those to the right of box a. This is forthe purpose of moving box a a greater distance as it progresses to tothe strapper 19 than the distance which the box b is moved inbringing itfrom the receiving conveyer 17 into the lidder 18. on account of thepresent construction of available strappers, but is not essential totheoperation of our invention, as .strappers can easily be modified so thatthe` strappingposition in the strapper 19 will be located considerablycloser to the lidder than is indicated in Figs. 6 to 12.

Fig. 10 illustrates the situation last described above in which thelidding of box a is'completed and all the conveyers are again started. Amovement of all the boxes into the positions in which they are shown inFig. 11 is thus accomplished, box abeing stopped by the stop 183 of thestrapper 19 just before box b comes into the proper position shown forlidding, thereby stopping the receiving conveyer, the lidder andstrapper conveyers and, in conjunction with box c, stopping the conveyer16. I

The control mechanisms of the lidder and strapperare preferably combinedso that each This isrnecessaryl time a box is lidded on the lidder thestrapper 19 is caused tov apply a strap to the box immediately inadvance of the box lidded. The completion of this double function isillustrated in Fig. 12 where the vcontrol mechanism is again actuated soas to start all the conveyers and move `box a off the strapper onto thedischarge conveyer 20 and progress theV other boxes in a similar mannerto that previously described.

In some circumstances it might be necessary to provide for boxes beingdelivered on the conveyer 16-without being spaced, in other words,abutting against each other. The layout shown would handle thiscondition provided the strapper were to be moved closer to the lidder sothat in moving from the lidder to the strapper the box would not have tomove much farther than the minimum distance separating two boxes on thelidder 18 and the receiving conveyer 17.

In the lidding and strapping of boxes it sometimeshappens that the lidis broken in the process of lidding, ory fruit in the box is crushed soas to require-the lid to be slightly lifted and the crushed fruitreplaced with good fruit. VUnder such circumstances it is desirable toretain the box-just lidded on the lidder conveyer 49 kuntil a new lidcan be nailed onto the box or vother attention given to the box toproperly prepare it for shipment. The operator generally becomes awareof such a condition just as the lidding of the box is completed and,when using our invention, he thereupon depresses the lever 172 with hisvfoot so as to throw out the clutch 99 and open the switch 157.. Thiscauses the' receiving conveyer and the lidder and .strapper conveyers tobe halted and insures that the conveyer 16 will be stopped as soon as abox opens the switch 33. The operator is thus given Ycomplete control ofthe apparatus and the ability to stop it at will in case of emergency.As before mentioned, automatic operation of the entire conveyer systemcan bere-established by lifting the lever 172 into its upward positionshown in Fig. 1.

It is thus seen that ,we have providedan automatic mechanism for feedingboxes into and through a lidder and strapperso that the operators timeand energy will not be consumed in drawingboxes into the lidder or inpushing these from the lidder and through the straper. Thus, thecapacity of a single lidder and Vstrapper and operator will be greatlyincreased and the work made much easier on the operator.

What we claim is: Y

In combination: a power conveyor for deliveringpacked boxes to a workstation disposed over said conveyora member disposed close to'saidstation and adapted to be engaged by a box arriving'at said .station andmoved in the direction of travel of said conveyor; means actuated bysaid member, when thus moved, to stop said conveyor .substantially assaid box arrives at' said station; means urging saidmember into saidpath; means urging .said member in the opposite direction to that ofsaid conveyor to a position permitting saidconveyor to travel; means tosecure a cover to said box at said work station; and means actuated bysaid cover securing means to withdraw said member from said pathincidental to a cover securing operation, thereby permitting said.second urging means to return said member to said position.

' DANA E. KEECH.

JOSEPH N. ADAMS.

